Pastel exhibit shows range of medium

By David C. Farmer
Special to The Advertiser

•	Pastel Artists of Hawaii Exhibition Pauahi Tower Mezzanine Gallery 1001 Bishop St. Through March 19 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday Closed Sunday Free

Although the art community has access to several public spaces downtown, few, if any, of them provide totally satisfactory conditions. The Pauahi Tower — with its marginal lighting and cavernous, fragmented space — is no exception.

This exhibition is definitely worth a visit, however. From amateur to professional, the works demonstrate both the infinite possibilities of this tricky medium and its many traps and pitfalls.

Among pieces that show the medium's ease at marrying an implied linear structure with a painterly skin are Mark Norseth's luminous portraits and seascape, and Mei Ki Kam's richly evocative landscapes. Both artists avoid the picturesque, clichéd images often produced by less accomplished practitioners.

Similarly, Jeff Dunn's "Chekerboard Mesa" balances nicely the literal with a kind of subtle surrealism that takes the medium to new places.